Dream On
by Drace929
Summary: One-Shot: After a devastating loss, Punk wishes he had never become 'CM Punk'. But he's about to realize he's lost something even more important than his first fight.


**A/N: Just a silly one-shot. I have something new possibly in the works, not sure when or if I'm going to post but while you wait here's something I wrote down on a boring Sunday evening. I did a CSI NY story similar to this and really enjoyed it, hope you all do too.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, mostly because they are not characters are real life people. Also, Rated M for language.**

 **Summary: After a devastating loss, Punk wishes he had never become 'CM Punk'. But he's about to realize he's lost something even more important than his first fight.**

* * *

 **Dream On**

* * *

After a tough loss in his UFC debut, Punk was at his lowest point. He was questioning everything as he went over those two minutes constantly. He was angry, he was disappointed, he was sad, he was ashamed, he was embarrassed. He had trouble looking anyone in the eye as he and his wife slipped out of the arena and headed back to their hotel where their dog, Larry, was awaiting them. They packed up all of their stuff in the middle of the night and skipped out. AJ insisted on driving and the car ride was mostly silent.

"You can talk to me." AJ said keeping her eyes on the dark road.

"I have nothing to say." Punk retorted as he kept his arms folded and glanced out the window.

"Phil-" She started.

"Stop, please." He pleaded lightly. "I can't take you being nice to me right now."

"Why wouldn't I be nice?" She questioned.

"Look at what I did." He pointed out. "I fucked it all up. We left WWE, we moved to Milwaukee and I promised it would be worth it."

"Wasn't it?" She questioned. "I mean you didn't win but you certainly didn't lose. You loved training and being in Milwaukee."

"I really don't want to discuss this anymore." Punk told her shortly. "I don't want to fucking think about anything right now."

"You must be thinking of something." She noted.

"Yea, I'm actually thinking how I would have been better off following a different career path." Punk snorted. "Not even wrestling, I should have just skipped all that shit so I could be a normal guy."

"You are normal." AJ defended with a shrug.

"I'm not. If I was normal half the world wouldn't be on social media mocking me." Punk snapped. "A regular 9-5 job where nobody knows who the fuck I am. That's the path I should have taken. I fucked up."

"You didn't fuck up." AJ sighed.

"You didn't go through what I did tonight." Punk reminded her. "I don't think I could ever show my face anywhere again."

"Phil-" She began again.

"I'm done now April." He said to her and turned up the radio.

Punk was actually able to drift off to sleep as AJ drove the five hours back to Chicago...

* * *

 _Punk woke with a start. Part of him didn't want to start the day and answer all the phone calls from friends and teammates who were desperately trying to reach him. The sun was shinning and his head was buried in his pillow but he could still feel the hot beams hitting his bare back. He reached over without picking his head up to his nightstand and grabbed his cellphone that was going off and turned the alarm off. He removed the pillow from his face and was shocked to see he had no calls, no texts and no voicemails. He wasn't upset by it, actually relieved and then sat up and realized he wasn't home or in his hotel._

 _He was in a tiny apartment, so tiny that his kitchen, living room and bedroom was all just one giant room- a loft. The place was a mess but Punk smiled. This was an amazing dream. He jumped out of the bed and pushed open the dirty curtains and saw he was living downtown. He looked at how everyone hurried along as rush hour was in full swing and quickly felt his ear and eye and realized he wasn't hurt, that fight never happened. He wasn't 'CM Punk' he was Phil Brooks. This is exactly what he wanted._

" _Babe!" he yelled out happily as he looked out the window. "Ape!" he yelled out again when he didn't hear her then slowly turned his head. She wasn't laying next to him. The apartment was covered in her little funkos, there were no signs of any female living here actually._

" _April?" He asked again with a frown but there was nothing. "Larry?" He questioned and his dog that he loved as if it was his own son didn't come running out. "Oh, fuck this." Punk laughed to himself and waited to wake up, but he never did._

 _His apartment door swung open and in walked Colt Cabana, a man that Punk had threatened to beat to death if he saw him face to face. Once best friends, now bitter enemies._

" _What the fuck?" Punk demanded._

" _You're not ready yet?" Colt asked. "We're going to be late. Oh I get it, you couldn't find your work clothes in this pile of shit?" he asked gesturing to the mess on the floor._

" _What the fuck are you doing here?" Punk hissed and Colt laughed._

" _Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Colt remarked amused. "Seriously, get your shit because we're late and if you want a ride to work you better-"_

 _"Work?" Punk asked._

" _Uh yea. You know that big building we go to six days a week for twelve hours a day? You do what the big boss man tells you and then every two weeks you get a check that you blow on comics." Colt teased._

" _Where?" Punk asked him as he grabbed a dirty shirt from the floor and pulled it over his head._

" _What's your deal man? Did you hit your head or something?" Colt asked slightly concerned._

" _Since when do you give a shit about me?" Punk snapped grabbing his sneakers._

" _What's your deal?" Colt asked seriously. "We really have to get going I don't have time to deal with your shit right now."_

 _"Where's Ape?" Punk asked briefly looking up at him as he laced his sneakers._

" _Who?" Colt asked confused._

 _"April." He clarified annoyed._

" _Well, it's September so I'd say you're about six months early." Colt laughed at his own joke but Punk wasn't amused. "Who is April?" he asked trying to take his friends concerns seriously._

" _AJ." He Punk told him coldly. "You know AJ, she's super tiny, long dark hair, my wife-"_

 _"Your wife?" Colt laughed. "Does your wife know you were entertaining one of Jenna sisters last night?"_

 _"I don't have time for this." Punk said grabbing his phone and typed in AJ's name in a search engine._

" _You think you're married to AJ Lee?" Colt asked with a chuckle. "She's out of your league man."_

" _You know her?" Punk asked hopefully._

 _"We just saw her wrestle last weekend." Colt reminded him slowly. "Seriously maybe you should go to the hospital."_

 _"I don't need a fucking hospital." Punk snapped then put his phone away. "She's probably home anyway." He said brushing past Colt and headed out the door._

* * *

 _Colt chased behind Punk as he began the six block walk over to his home that he shared with AJ._

" _Dude what the fuck is going on?" Colt asked trying to keep up with him._

" _Go fuck yourself." Punk snapped not even turning his head._

" _Why are you pissed at me?" Colt asked pulling on Punk's arm but he just jerked it away and kept walking._

" _You know what you fucking did." Punk hissed. "Costing me millions of dollars-"_

 _"You really must have fucked up your head." Colt said seriously. "I thought this was funny at first but now I'm concerned."_

" _I just want to get to Ape, walk my dog and fucking sleep." Punk said to himself._

" _You don't know AJ Lee." Colt pointed out. "And you don't have a dog and you don't live in Wicker Park."_

 _"I live right here." Punk said stopping in front of the familiar home._

" _No you don't." Colt told him slowly. "AJ Lee does in fact live here. And you in fact live six blocks back."_

 _"Stop calling her AJ Lee." Punk grumbled. "She's April Brooks."_

 _"She's April Shipman." Colt corrected and Punk narrowed his eyes at him, ready to kill him._

" _What did you just say?" Punk hissed taking a threatening step towards him._

 _"We saw her and Jay wrestling the other night." Colt reminded him. "Maybe you had a dream about her?" he suggested. "You did think she was hot and swore she winked at you even though I know she was winking at me."_

" _She wrestles with Jay?" Punk asked feeling his heart drop out of his chest._

" _Uh yea." Colt said slowly. "Remember we went to the WWE live event and-"_

 _"WWE?" Punk asked and Colt rolled his eyes._

 _"I'm sick of explaining this shit to you." Colt said annoyed. "And look man, I don't know what kind of fucking dream or nightmare you had last night but what I do know is that Jay Lethal doesn't like to be bothered so let's get the fuck out here."_

 _"Fuck him." Punk spat as he began to walk to the garage entrance and tried punching in his security code._

 _"You're going to get arrested." Colt hissed._

" _My code isn't working." Punk mumbled with a frown._

" _Because you don't fucking live here!" Colt yelled._

" _Fucking animal!" A voice yelled approaching the house and Punk jerked his head to see Jay storming towards the house and Colt grabbed Punk and dragged him behind the car in the driveway._

" _Just shut the fuck up." Colt hissed at Punk who rolled his eyes._

" _He didn't mean it." AJ frowned trailing behind her husband holding her dog Larry._

" _Larry." Punk whispered with a smile._

" _He fucking bites me all of the time!" Jay yelled at her. "Always on my fucking ankle! He has to go!"_

 _"No!" AJ yelled and Jay stopped short and turned around to face her so they were nose to nose and Punk saw her flinch._

" _You don't tell me 'no'." Jay reminded her coldly and Punk narrowed his eyes as his blood boiled. "Who pays for this fucking palace you live in?"_

 _"I make money too." AJ reminded him._

" _You'd be nowhere if it wasn't for me." Jay reminded her. "You'd have nothing! Imagine where your life would be if I didn't get signed to WWE and agree to take you back?"_

 _"Jay-" She began._

 _"I didn't ask you to fucking talk." Jay reminded her. "When I speak you shut up and listen."_

" _Son of a bitch." Punk muttered under his breath as he watched his wife's face fall._

" _Shhh." Colt whispered._

" _This dog pisses everywhere and bites me constantly." Jay reminded her. "He's a fucking problem, one I don't need."_

 _"But I love him." AJ argued holding onto Larry who was licking the side of her face._

" _Don't let him do that shit." Jay scolded pushing Larry's face away from hers roughly. "And you love me, don't forget it. The choice is either bring him back to the shelter or I can just put him outside." he warned her._

" _I can't just let him go." AJ sniffled holding the dog tighter._

" _Fucking tough." Jay said to her. "We're on the road too much anyway."_

 _"I'm leaving." AJ reminded him. "Remember? What am I supposed to do while you're on the road all of the time?"_

 _"You're going to be traveling with me. Just because you're on TV doesn't mean you're going to be sitting at home alone. I need you on the road with me." Jay told her._

" _I can't write on the road." She argued lightly._

" _This book shit again?" Jay groaned. "Look, you don't want to wrestle and blow it all that's fine. But no you can't write a book because nobody would even want to read it. And I really think you should rethink not re-signing because what the hell else are you going to do?"_

" _I'm in pain." AJ frowned. "My neck is in really bad shape and my back-"_

 _"I'm hurt too!" Jay shouted. "Doesn't mean I'm willing to flush everything away."_

" _I just need a break at least and Larry can keep me company." AJ insisted. "Please Jay?"_

 _"No." He said sternly and walked towards the garage and typed in a code that worked. "Bring him back now." he warned her then headed inside._

" _April." Punk announced standing up and looking at her. She jerked back in surprise clutching Larry to her chest. "I'm not going to hurt you." He insisted seeing the fear ooze off of her body. "I could never hurt you."_

 _"My husband is right inside." AJ warned him backing away._

" _Your husband is right here." Punk responded calmly. "Don't you remember me?"_

 _"My friend here is a fan and hit his head." Colt laughed nervously. "Sorry to bother you-"_

 _"Go." Punk said to Colt. "Do you always let him talk to you like that?"_

 _"Excuse me?" AJ asked offended._

 _"You told me that he used to talk to you like that when he was training you and how bad it would make you feel but you felt you had nowhere else to go." Punk told her and Colt eyed him as if he was crazy. "He hurt you a lot and you married him?" He asked confused._

" _I have no idea who the hell are you." AJ hissed._

" _Your neck hurts you said? Did you have the surgery you needed? Or did he talk you out of it because he wants you on the road making money?" Punk asked her and AJ just shook her head. "Let me take you to a doctor-"_

 _"Are you insane?" AJ asked with a laugh._

" _Well, yes, but that's what you love about me." Punk teased with a smirk. "I'm serious here Ape-"_

" _My name is April." AJ corrected._

" _Are you going to give Larry back?" Punk asked slowly walking closer to her and sticking his hand out for Larry who AJ was expecting to bite the strange fan but instead kissed it. "Somebody remembers me at least."_

 _"Was he your dog first?" AJ asked confused._

" _He's our dog." Punk smirked petting a happy Larry. "His favorite things are eating chewed up gum from the street, pissing where we walk and watching you shower."_

" _Is this some kind of a joke?" AJ asked looking over to Colt._

" _I wish." Colt said to him._

" _I'm calling the cops." AJ said pulling herself and Larry away from Punk._

" _I'm not going to hurt you, you know that." Punk said to her._

" _I have to go." AJ said shaking her head._

" _Larry." Punk announced and she turned her head. "You're not going to bring him back right? He loves you. He'd be heartbroken to go back into that glass crate at the end of the hallway."_

 _"How did you-" she began but then stopped herself. "Are you a stalker?"_

 _"No." Punk smirked. "Even though I know you have a lot issues with that and you're probably really scared right now yet you haven't run because either you know that I wouldn't hurt you or you'd rather take your chances with me then go back inside with him."_

" _Does he hurt you?" Punk asked in a whisper and her face fell. "Like he used to? Grab you a little too hard? Did he pop your arm out of the socket again?" he asked quietly and she looked up and met Punk's eyes in shock. "You told me all of this, don't act surprised."_

" _I don't know you." AJ said shaking her head._

 _"Yes you do." he responded quickly. "I can't leave you here with him, I won't."_

 _"Then I really will call the police. I'm perfectly safe with my husband." AJ lied._

" _No." He said shaking his head sadly. "You can call the cops but I'll be on a public sidewalk. I'll show up at every show you have and I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you."_

 _"You'll be arrested." AJ scoffed._

" _And then I'll get out and come right back." Punk shrugged. "I made a mistake, I wished I had never wrestled and this is like some sick dream telling me that I'm an idiot and I get it." he rambled as AJ watched the crazy man ramble before her. "I'm sorry!" He yelled out looking up at the sky. "I fucking know I shouldn't have said it now!"_

 _"April." Jay's voice caused a shiver to run down her spine._

" _I won't let him hurt you." Punk whispered to AJ, she was too afraid to even turn around to face her husband._

" _What is going on?" Jay demanded walking over to Punk._

 _"He works at that tattoo shop downstairs." AJ answered before Punk could. "He was just saying hello and petting Larry."_

 _"You want him?" Jay asked seriously._

 _"I'll take him." Punk responded without hesitation and held his arms out._

" _Give him to him." Jay said nudging AJ in her back which made her angry._

" _Don't do that to her." Punk demanded narrowing his eyes at Jay who just ignored Punk and pulled the dog out of AJ's arms and placed him in Punks._

" _Jay can't we just talk about this?" AJ pleaded as she began to cry._

" _No." He said seriously and placed his hand around her arm. "You'll let her see him, right?"_

 _"Yea of course." Punk said as his eyes locked on the grip he had on AJ's arm._

" _Come by in a little bit and we'll give you all of his crap." Jay assured him._

" _I just want to say goodbye." AJ said reaching for the dog but Jay tugged her away._

" _We have a gym schedule to follow." He reminded her. "And you really need to hit the treadmill today, all of those donuts are catching up to you."_

 _"I just want to say goodbye." She sobbed but he pushed her into the garage and closed the door._

" _Dude, what the fuck just happened?" Colt asked Punk who was glaring at the door._

" _I can't leave her here." Punk argued putting Larry on the floor but holding onto his leash._

" _Just mind your own business." Colt insisted._

" _That's my wife in there." Punk reminded him and Colt just shook his head. "I promised to love, honor and protect her-"_

 _"She's not your wife!" Colt yelled. "You're sick or something-"_

 _"She's my wife!" Punk yelled. "I'm telling you, last night I lost my fight and I said I wish I had never gotten into wrestling to begin with and now here I am." He remarked. "I didn't think it meant I wouldn't have her! She was the best part about me wrestling! She-"_

 _"She is married." Colt reminded him cutting him off. "She's with him-"_

 _"They used to date before we got together and she told me the stories about him and she told me how he would make her feel bad all of the time and pick her apart and bring her down." Punk told him._

 _"Dude you need to get to a hospital asap." Colt said seriously. "And what the fuck are you going to do with this dog?"_

 _"Larry is my dog." Punk said to him seriously and passed Colt the leash._

" _What are you doing?" Colt asked confused._

" _43195." Punk said walking over to the code. "I watched him type it in-"_

 _"You're fucking nuts man." Colt said in disbelief._

" _It's my fucking house, that's my wife. I'll kill that son of a bitch and end up in this bizarre world for life if I have to in order to keep her safe." Punk said as the door opened and he stepped inside._

* * *

 _Punk headed to the right and pushed open the gym door and could hear the arguing._

" _He wasn't yours to give away!" AJ screamed._

" _Shut the fuck up about this ugly fucking dog!" Jay yelled and AJ shoved him causing him to laugh as Punk remained hidden by the door. "Don't push me April." he warned her amused._

" _I'm going to get him back!" AJ yelled and turned to walk to the door but Jay grabbed her arm so hard Punk heard a crack and before he could even react she slapped him across the face. Jay hit her back and she hit the floor, but her head hit some gym equipment on the way down and that's when Punk heard another crack and burst inside._

" _What did you do!" Punk yelled dropping to his knees next to his wife whose eyes were wide open but they were glassed over. "Ape?" He begged as blood pooled from her behind head._

" _It was an accident." Jay stuttered._

" _She's not breathing." Punk whispered to himself feeling for a pulse. "Oh my god." He cried out trying to find a pulse. "Ape?" He begged grabbing her face.  
"Wake up baby." he begged. _

" _She attacked me." Jay whispered._

 _"You fucking killed her!" Punk screamed. "You killed my wife!"_

" _I didn't." Jay said shaking his head in shock._

 _"I'm sorry Ape." Punk sobbed lifting her into his arms and burying his face into her neck. "I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry. I love you." He just kept repeating those three sentences over and over before Jay made some noise. "I'm going to kill him for you." he whispered to AJ as he carefully placed her back on the floor._

 _Punk began to stand up but felt AJ grab his wrist and squeeze it._

" _Phil." She responded robotically._

* * *

"Phil!" AJ yelled again and his eyes shot open.

"Ape?" He asked slowing coming to.

"I pulled over because you were yelling and having some-" She couldn't finish because he grabbed her face and kissed her deeply.

"You're ok." He said inspecting her face once he pulled away.

"Yea I'm ok." She smirked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I had this awful dream." He said shaking his head. "I don't regret not wrestling." He told her quickly and she seemed confused. "I want you to know that. I was pissed tonight but wrestling introduced you to me and I'd never regret that- ever!"

"I know that." AJ whispered. "I never thought you were referring to me. What did you dream about?"

"I woke up and I had this 9-5 to job but you were wrestling and you were married to Jay and he was awful to you." Punk said cringing.

"So it was like when we were dating?" AJ teased.

"It's not funny. He killed you right in front of me." He said with a shaky voice. "You were just lifeless on the floor-"

"I'm here." She reminded him.

"It felt so real." Punk almost cried. "I thought losing was the worst thing in the world but that dream- oh my god Ape my heart is still pounding." He said grabbing her hand and placing it over his beating chest.

"It was just a dream." She assured him.

"Let's switch, I'll drive for a little." He said taking off his seat belt.

"I've only been driving for an hour." she argued.

"I don't want to fall asleep again." He admitted. "I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to anyway."

"I want you to rest." She insisted.

"I lost and it sucks but I'm fucking alive and I have you." He said with a genuine smile. "I'll get back in the gym and try harder."

"Yes you will." AJ agreed happily.

"I'm done feeling sorry for myself." He said to her. "I mean for the most part, there's more important things I could have lost."

"There's a motel a few exits back, let's just check in and sleep this night off together?" she suggested.

"I'd love that." He said placing his hand on her thigh and massaging the inside of her upper thigh and she playfully slapped his hand away.

"I meant really sleep, you're hurt." She reminded him with a laugh.

"I'm not that hurt." He said kissing her cheek then his mouth trailed along her jawline and that's when Larry started to bark.

"Let's get a motel room." He said to her as he motioned for Larry who poked his head up and Punk lifted him and put him on his lap.

"It really was just a dream." She reminded him before starting the car again.

"Nightmare but it was the wake up call I needed." He said to her. "I can face this. It sucks, but I can do it with you."

"Yes you certainly can." She agreed.

"Now let's gets a room." He said eagerly.

"You're going to actually sleep." She laughed.

"I told you I'm never sleeping again but if you don't want to get a room there's a big backseat." Punk suggested seriously.

"What about Larry?" AJ asked laughing.

"We'll put him on his leash and tie it to tree outside." He said with a shrug and she rolled her eyes. "I'm serious! He won't mind, we'll be twenty minutes."

"Stop." she laughed.

"Hey." He said seriously pulling her attention away from the empty highway briefly. "I love you and thank you for being here with me."

"I'd go anywhere for you." She said shooting him a toothy smile.


End file.
